Stewart W. Gagnon
Senior Partner, Houston
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

"You get a good feeling from doing799 pro bono work. For the most part, people appreciate what you do for them. The greatest reward is seeing the smiles on the faces of those you have helped — people who had been frustrated by the system." – Stewart W. Gagnon

Career: Stewart W. Gagnon began his 34-year career with Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. in the Houston office mailroom during his second week in law school. After graduating from South Texas College of Law, Gagnon joined the firm full-time in 1974 and became a partner in 1989. He heads the family law department and is chair of the pro bono committee, where he oversees the firm’s commitment to giving tens of thousands of pro bono hours annually.

What is your role as chair of the firm’s pro bono committee?

I serve as the conduit between those who want to help and those who need help. I coordinate the firm’s lawyers with outside pro bono opportunities. For example, we sponsor and staff three clinics every year with the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. I recruit 20 lawyers to staff each clinic. Providing this diversity of skills ensures that we can answer almost any question that is asked. I have served as chair of this committee for four years.

How do you encourage others at your firm to do pro bono work?

We nurture those attorneys with an interest in pro bono work by providing them with mentoring and any available resources or support they need. People see the goodness of the work and want to get involved. It’s not that difficult to find volunteers.

How important is pro bono work to Fulbright & Jaworski?

Pro bono work is and has been an important part of the firm’s culture. We do it because it is the right thing to do. We are a part of the community, and it is our responsibility to help make the community better. Locally, Fulbright & Jaworski has been involved in the formation of the Texas Medical Center, the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program, and the Houston Bar Foundation.

How did you first get involved in pro bono work?

While I was in law school, I completed an internship at the Houston Legal Foundation, which is now a part of Lone Star Legal Aid. Here, I developed an interest in helping those with few or no financial resources navigate through the court system.

What are your most memorable pro bono experiences?

I represented a Pakistan woman who was awarded a $1.9 million judgment because of the tactics her ex-husband used during their divorce. She was a good person who didn’t deserve that abuse.

I also represented an HIV-positive man who was having trouble enforcing his visitation rights, allowing him to see his children during the last two months of his life.

What are the greatest rewards and challenges of doing pro bono work?

You get a good feeling from doing pro bono work. For the most part, people appreciate what you do for them. The greatest reward is seeing the smiles on the faces of those you have helped — people who had been frustrated by the system.

The greatest challenge is dealing with the clients’ complicated situations, and the system is often not equipped to help. I feel frustration that we can’t find solutions to some of these larger problems.

Talk about your recent work on Supreme Court Protective Order Task Force.

I serve on a subcommittee of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, and we identified a need to help those who want to obtain a protective order, but cannot find legal help. While this is not an issue in all counties, it can be in the smaller and more rural counties.

For 18 months, I chaired the task force. We worked to prepare a self-help kit that is legally correct and easily understandable. Now, we are publicizing and distributing the kit to everyone — law enforcement agencies, domestic violence shelters, medical facilities, court clerks, and public libraries — who knows someone who may need it.